Plosive Consonants

That’s a little like what plosive consonants are like. You can even see the explosion in the word plosive.

The plosive consonants are /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/.

The /p/ and /b/ sounds

Words

pen, Ben

pat, bat

pot, bot

path, bath

rope, robe

rip, rib

gap, gab

cup, cub

Phrases

a pot of barley

a big pig

hobnob and hip hop

play a piano

Tongue twisters

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
how many pecks of pickled peppers did Peter Piper pick?

A big black bug bit the back of a big black bear.
The big black bear bit back the big black bug.

Following /s/

sports, spark, spend, spill, speak

The /t/ and /d/ sounds

Words

tad, dad

ten, den

top, dop

teen, dean

tool, duel

oat, ode

wrote, rode

right, ride

sight, sighed

light, lied

Phrases

riding light

Tick tock, time’s a wastin’.

dig it deeper

Following /s/

stove, step, stop, store, still, steam

The /k/ and /g/ sounds

Words

kill, gill

cob, gob

cool, ghoul

Kate, gate

pick, pig

dock, dog

duck, dug

back, bag

trick ‘er, trigger

Phrases

kill the carier

pick good ones

Can he come?

Let’s get going.

Following /s/

sky, skip, skin, skate, scream, scatter

Song

Before we finish this lesson I want to teach you a few more pronunciation rules.

The pronunciation of /p/, /t/, /k/ at the end of words

Aspiration means that you use the air from your lungs to make a sound. If a consonant is unaspirated then you just use the air in your mouth to make the sound.

/p/, /t/, /k/ are aspirated at the beginning of words

pen

ten

Ken

pill

till

kill

pea

tea

key

You should be able to feel the breath come out in a little burst when making these consonant sounds.

/p/, /t/, /k/ are unaspirated at the ends of words

cap

feet

pick

rope

hot

back

cup

let

lock

You shouldn’t feel a puff of air or hear a hiss at the ends of these words.

When are vowels short and when are they long?

You should have noticed that sometimes a vowel is long in American English and sometimes that same vowel is short. The difference is related to whether the consonant that comes after it is voiced or voiceless.